[bumbobee]

So after owning my 2018 Rav4 hybrid XLE for over half of year, I have the following conclusion.

1. I have disabled all Toyota safety sense aids. The lane keep assist was annoying and sometimes would bump me back into a lane even though I was doing something else. The pre collision system is a joke in city driving, maybe it's good for drivers who are truly bad, but at that level of skill, they shouldn't even be driving.

2. The adaptive cruise control is terrible. If you're following a car and have it set, if that car gets off an on off ramp, sometimes the system will slam on the brakes pre maturely. I would rather have a cruise control system with no adaptive cruise control, keep it old school.

3. I was driving in some mild snow type weather, and all of a sudden, my whole dash board starts going bonkers saying the camera is blocked and all systems are disabled. This message kept cycling through and repeating. No way of turning it off. I pulled over at a gas station and there was just a bit of ice formation over the Toyota badge where all the cameras are. I cleaned it off and was good to go, but man, what a badly designed system that it's susceptible to being disabled by a bit of snow/ice. I think I will have a tough season here in Canada. Also, it's extremely distracting to be driving with the messages going off and cycling through, if I could at least disable the warnings that would be great.

 

[Blogson]

Those experiences obviously are very annoying and possibly dangerous. More reasons for me keeping my un-encombered '11.

 

[reb]

The forever increasing numbers of bells and whistles being offered on cars is overwhelming. The cost of repairs due to them is getting out of hand according to something I saw on the evening news a few days ago. I would like to get a new car without all the features--reliability is #1 for me.

 

[Rav4system3]

Yeah I hate all that crap.

 

[rdgrimes]

I would rather have a cruise control system with no adaptive cruise control, keep it old school.

Read the manual, you'll discover you already have that if you switch to that mode before engaging speed control.

 

[bumbobee]

How do I do that?

 

[bumbobee]

For such a sensitive piece of tech it should be heated or at least have it's own wiper blade so get the grime off and prevent from freezing up. Or better yet have a system like Subaru does where it has cameras inside the actual cabin.

 

[EddieJoe]

The OP has identified the problem: there is no standard for how these devices work, or don’t work. So each manufacturer does it differently with different operational rules.

For that matter, some of the “aids” are either easy to manage or are only activated in an emergency, and thus are nice to have. Others just turn out to be a PITA, and get turned off because they are much more aggravating than beneficial. It’s the early years of automatic driving we are going through. Some, like ASS and cylinder cut off, are only there to improve the vehicle EPA CAFE rating, so they get turned off a lot.

EJ


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[prechierav]

How do I do that?

I believe you have to hold the on button on the stalk at least two seconds.
See this video at the time 1:24

Note that the default is "radar" type so you'll have to re-learn having to press the button two seconds or more, for each time you use cruise control. Maybe Toyota should have set it the other way around... press 2 seconds if you want radar cruise, ..and the normal quick press for the traditional cruise. Oh well i guess they think radar is 'safer' so it is the default.

 

[NikolaiAK]

Safety Sense works great for me, but I honestly can live without it. I would not miss this feature at all as I missed the FOLDER play from USB stick. I wish there was a dumb Pioneer instead of "Smart" Entune.

 

[mficca1]

WOW, I love all the functions you are talking about in my 2017 Limited. Everything works to perfection.

 

[cash70]

I don't mind any of the safety sense aids. I've gotten used to them. I do alot of overnight driving, that's when I find them very useful. However, I make sure I disable them if driving in the snow. If not, your cabin will be like an F/A-18. I also disable the radar cruise control during the day. For overnight driving is not bad at all.

 

[RavLover!]

Good to know these features can be turned off. I'm contemplating whether I should get the 2016 or the 2017. I know I'd use the tech but not as often (probably only at night or in extreme weathers - rain or fog). Then again, the only feature I'd probably use most of the time is the highbeam.

 

[Mr3Putt]

I'm a huge fan of the adaptive cruise, especially on two lane higher speed roads.

I do for the most part, turn off the lane guidance.

After my recent head on-hit by a heroin induced @sshole who was attempting a pass on a blind bend, I'll take all the overkill safety items the engineers can muster. Maybe the computer could have hit the brakes before me and taken some of the energy out of the impact.

 

[Thandal]

I appreciate every element of TSS-P, and activate all of them in my 2018 R4H Limited. (I am another one who does a lot of long-distance and/or night driving.)

But I would also appreciate two specific changes to the adaptive cruise:

1. That it didn't cut-out below ~30mph. Should be able to come to a complete stop, then resume when the vehicle ahead moves. Other manufacturers' do.

2. That it had some visible/audible signal (other than the speedometer) when below the set speed.
It often takes me a while to realize I could/should have moved to the other lane to pass the slowpoke in front of me.

 

[Quickdtoo]

But I would also appreciate two specific changes to the adaptive cruise:

1. That it didn't cut-out below ~30mph. Should be able to come to a complete stop, then resume when the vehicle ahead moves. Other manufacturers' do.

That's because it only has partial speed DRCC, you have to step up to a '19 to get full speed DRCC in the Rav4, our '18 Prius Prime has full speed DRCC, it's too bad Toyota didn't put it in the '18 Rav4.

 

[Bodhiz]

So after owning my 2018 Rav4 hybrid XLE for over half of year, I have the following conclusion.

1. I have disabled all Toyota safety sense aids. The lane keep assist was annoying and sometimes would bump me back into a lane even though I was doing something else. The pre collision system is a joke in city driving, maybe it's good for drivers who are truly bad, but at that level of skill, they shouldn't even be driving.

2. The adaptive cruise control is terrible. If you're following a car and have it set, if that car gets off an on off ramp, sometimes the system will slam on the brakes pre maturely. I would rather have a cruise control system with no adaptive cruise control, keep it old school.

3. I was driving in some mild snow type weather, and all of a sudden, my whole dash board starts going bonkers saying the camera is blocked and all systems are disabled. This message kept cycling through and repeating. No way of turning it off. I pulled over at a gas station and there was just a bit of ice formation over the Toyota badge where all the cameras are. I cleaned it off and was good to go, but man, what a badly designed system that it's susceptible to being disabled by a bit of snow/ice. I think I will have a tough season here in Canada. Also, it's extremely distracting to be driving with the messages going off and cycling through, if I could at least disable the warnings that would be great.

Absolute Bull! The 2018 version of Safety Sense saved my life several times. Forced braking when i needed it and Loud warnings and Flashing just before a rear ender! But you should be happy now along with the naysayeres as Toyota killed that version in 2020 so thousands of us can now have unavoidable crashes. Thx Toyota!

 

[Northstat]

Silly how I was not able to use basic cruise control when snow covered the front logo on highway a few weeks ago. Pre-collision system shut down. No pre-collision = no cruise. Had to drive three hours on the highway with my foot on the gas pedal. Cleaned the logo, but got snow blocked again a few minutes afterwards. Ridiculous design. There is a previous post above showing video of setting basic cruise which overrides the pre-collision system. Have to give it a try next time. Not sure if it will work on the RAV. Just give me option for basic cruise control.

 

[Big Daddy]

As the driver I should decide when & where I use cruise control, not some design engineer. Unfortunately today most new cars are designed for the 5% of idiots behind the wheel who should never been allowed to hold a driver's license in the first place. It's a pity these same design engineers can't up with a safety feature that detects when the driver is using their cell phone while driving!!!.

 

[cgilley]

Absolute Bull! <snip>

I agree with the safety features. Bitching Betty warns me when I need warning. To be honest, I am a much more aggressive driver than my wife, and I'm an old fart. It's saved me more than once.

Cruise - I love the adaptive cruise, but you really ought not to use it on hilly roads, that's an oxymoron. Deal with it. If you are in an environment where cruise needs to deal with drivers on phones, you ought not to be on cruise. Back to adaptive cruise - my wife despises CC, but she loves the new version with our 2018 RAV4.

BD, I think you need to rethink your comments, with all due respect.